Presented by DGC Ontario.

In ‘The Directors Vision’ we get behind-the-lens and inside the narrative of Utopia Falls, a brand new sci-fi series from acclaimed creator and director RT Thorne. In this very special chat, we’ll gather season one’s impressive roster of directors for a Round Table featuring: RT Thorne, Warren P. Sonoda, Melanie Orr, and Sudz Sutherland, and moderated by Ify Chiwetelu.

PANELISTS

R.T. Thorne | Creator, Director, Writer

Visionary writer/director R.T. Thorne has emerged as one of Canada’s most eclectic storytellers since debuting on the music video filmmaking scene over a decade ago. He is the Creator, Executive Producer, director, and co-writer of UTOPIA FALLS, a genre bending, Afrofuturistic science fiction series, that premiered as a HULU Original in 2020.

Known for his acute connection to underground culture, and a reputation of bold but emotionally driven visuals R.T. has been tapped to direct television for NBCUniversal, Netflix, Disney, HULU and Bell Media. His international episodic television work has taken him to three continents, earning him two Canadian screen award nominations, and a Directors Guild of Canada nomination.

R.T. continues to follow his passion for storytelling, creating & developing commercially viable filmmaking properties from diverse cultural perspectives.

Warren P. Sonoda | Filmmaker

BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Warren P. Sonoda directed 11 feature films and over 70 episodes of TV including Things I Do For Money, Trailer Park Boys, Coopers Camera, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Odd Squad, the new Utopia Falls on CBC Gem/Hulu and Lockdown for Youtube Originals which was completely shot remotely during Quarantine.

Melanie Orr | Director

Melanie is a very intuitive director who maintains her vision while allowing the time to approach the material naturally with her actors. She is a highly valued multi platform director with extradorinaiy achievements.
In 2015 she was selected for the inaugural Shaw Media and NSI Diverse TV Director’s Program and has been busy directing television ever since. She has achieved great success with 75+ episodes of television to her credits. Her work can be seen on APPLE TV+, HULU, AMAZON, NBC UNIVERSAL, NICKELODEON, FAMILY CHANNEL, YTV, CBC, MTV AND PBS.

In 2019, she received her first EMMY NOMINATION for Outstanding Direction in a Children’s Program for her work on Odd Squad Season 2.

Many of her credits have landed Melanie with a great skill in working with VFX elements in storytelling, especially interactions with CGI characters. Last fall, Melanie was directing Creatures, Aliens and Elephants on the exciting new series Endlings for CBC, BBC and HULU.

Melanie has also expanded into One Hour Drama with credits on Dark Matter, and multiple episodes on both of the YA series Utopia Falls (Sonar/HULU), and Hardy Boys (Corus/HULU).

Sudz Sutherland | Director

Sudz Sutherland (Writer/Director) works on both sides of the fence as a freelance writer and director for TV dramas and feature films. Sudz’s sophomore feature film, Home Again, won the prestigious PAFF/BAFTA Festival Choice Award in Los Angeles and was recently nominated for Best Direction from the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC). Home Again was the follow up to his multiple award winning and Genie nominated debut feature film Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, which won the best first feature at TIFF. He is currently writing a new pilot and feature and tries to fill up as many yellow legal pads with his longhand.

Moderator

Ify Chiwetelu | Host, CBC Now or Never

Ify Chiwetelu hosts NOW OR NEVER, heard nationally Saturdays on CBC Radio One. On NOW OR NEVER, Ify and her co-host Trevor Dineen meet people on personal missions to make change, big or small. They help test theories, poke holes in plans, recruit helpers – all in the hopes of getting it done. Ify is particularly inspired by people who she meets on NOW OR NEVER, who take contemplation into action.

A Nigerian-born, former Calgarian, Ify quit a job in the energy sector to pursue her creativity. In doing so, Ify charted her own path to form a career as a stand-up comic, improv performer, and comedy writer. She has written articles for CBC Comedy and was a contributing writer for season two of CBC’s hit television show, BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW.